Neighbor describes Illinois shooting

PONTIAC, Ill. — A burst of gunfire sent Annelise Fiedler running out of her home to see what the noise was. In the yard next door, she saw 30-year-old Sara McMeen hovering over her baby as if she had dropped her. Fiedler asked McMeen if everything was all right.

"She looked at me and said, 'No, everything is not all right,'" Fiedler told The Associated Press.

Then, Fiedler said, McMeen shot the baby. Fiedler fled for her life.

While authorities in the small Illinois farming community remained tight-lipped Saturday about the details of what they said was a murder-suicide that left five people dead, neighbors described shocking violence that took place outside, in full view of their homes. Some could see two of the children's bodies from their windows.

Livingston County Sheriff Martin Meredith would not identify the shooter or disclose a possible motive for the shootings, which happened about 2:30 p.m. Friday.

A school bus had dropped off Skyler and Ian Lemke, along with several of their friends, moments earlier, neighbors said. The children were excited because it was the last day of school before Christmas break, said Ronald Groetsema, whose 12-year-old son was also on the bus.

From his home one street away, Groetsema heard an initial round of six to eight gunshots. A few minutes of silence passed. Then, he heard four to six shots more.

Dave Melton rushed home after getting a frantic call from his wife, who could see McMeen's backyard from her window.

"The kids are dead," she told him.

On Saturday, Melton stood in front of his home and pointed at the yard that backs up to his. A day earlier, he saw Ian Lemke's body on the step leading into the neighboring house and McMeen's and Skyler's bodies about 10 feet away.

"I stood here for a while, like, 'This ain't happening,'" he said.

All five were pronounced dead at the scene. Meredith said investigators found a semi-automatic pistol there, but wouldn't say exactly where.

In a statement issued by authorities, Cynthia McMeen, Sara McMeen's mother, said family members "grieved over the loss of their loved ones."

Neighbors said McMeen and her family had moved recently to Emington.

About 30 people gathered in an Emington church Saturday morning to pray and try to understand what happened. Some residents said they had moved from larger towns to find a safe, quiet place to raise their families.